ABSTRACT
Numerous reports indicate that the incidence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in returning OEF/OIF military personnel is creating a significant healthcare challenge. These findings have served to motivate research on how to better develop and disseminate evidence-based treatments for PTSD. Virtual Reality delivered exposure therapy for PTSD has been previously used with reports of positive outcomes. This article details how virtual reality applications are being designed and implemented across various points in the military deployment cycle to prevent, identify and treat combat-related PTSD in OIF/OEF Service Members and Veterans. The summarized projects in these areas have been developed at the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies, a U.S. Army University Affiliated Research Center, and this paper will detail efforts to use virtual reality to deliver exposure therapy, assess PTSD and cognitive function and provide stress resilience training prior to deployment.
Subject(s)
Afghan Campaign 2001- , Combat Disorders/therapy , Implosive Therapy/methods , Iraq War, 2003-2011 , Military Personnel/psychology , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/therapy , Therapy, Computer-Assisted/methods , User-Computer Interface , Veterans/psychology , Adult , Brain Concussion/diagnosis , Brain Concussion/psychology , Brain Concussion/therapy , Cognition Disorders/diagnosis , Cognition Disorders/psychology , Cognition Disorders/therapy , Combat Disorders/diagnosis , Combat Disorders/psychology , Comorbidity , Evidence-Based Medicine , Female , Forecasting , Hospitals, Military , Hospitals, University , Humans , Implosive Therapy/trends , Male , Middle Aged , Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic , Resilience, Psychological , Software Design , South Carolina , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/diagnosis , Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic/psychology , Therapy, Computer-Assisted/trends , Young AdultABSTRACT
Over the last 15 years, a virtual revolution has taken place in the use of Virtual Reality simulation technology for clinical purposes. Shifts in the social and scientific landscape have now set the stage for the next major movement in Clinical Virtual Reality with the "birth" of intelligent virtual humans. Seminal research and development has appeared in the creation of highly interactive, artificially intelligent and natural language capable virtual human agents that can engage real human users in a credible fashion. No longer at the level of a prop to add context or minimal faux interaction in a virtual world, virtual humans can be designed to perceive and act in a 3D virtual world, engage in spoken dialogues with real users and can be capable of exhibiting human-like emotional reactions. This paper will present an overview of the SimCoach project that aims to develop virtual human support agents to serve as online guides for promoting access to psychological healthcare information and for assisting military personnel and family members in breaking down barriers to initiating care. The SimCoach experience is being designed to attract and engage military Service Members, Veterans and their significant others who might not otherwise seek help with a live healthcare provider. It is expected that this experience will motivate users to take the first step--to empower themselves to seek advice and information regarding their healthcare and general personal welfare and encourage them to take the next step towards seeking more formal resources if needed.
